montgomery



Feb. 27,1934. 1 A MONTGQMERY 1,949,174

COAL WASHING MACHINE duim um? Feb. 27, 1934. J. A. MONTGOMERY COAL WASHING MACHINE Filed March 17, 1951 gwvento'o JamasA. Mago/nay,

Feb. 27, 1934. J. A. MoNTGoMx-:RY

COAL WASHING MACHINE Filed March 17, 1951 A I 1 O O h @f 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jai/7796514. @ngo/neg,

grantee? ret. a7, 1934 CAL WASHING MACHNE elaines A. Montgomery, Birmingham, Ala., as-

signor to Fred Alexander Montgomery, Charles Joseph Montgomery, Eloise S. Montgomery, and Ruth M. Philips, all of Birmingham, Ala.

Application March 17, 1931. Serial No. 523,367

7 Claims.

This invention relates to a coal washing machine. An object of the invention is to improve the type oi machine disclosed in my prior Patent 954,986, granted April 12, 1910.

Among the objects of the invention is the provision of improved means for controlling the valves in the piston or plunger of the machine and in the control of the Valves in the partition in the lower portion oi the washing machine.

f Another object is to provide improved means for preventing leakage of water past the plunger ci the machine by providing adjustable wear plates between the plunger and the side walls and end walls oi the tank. These and other objects oi the invention will appear from the following description and from the drawings.

Referring to the drawings which are made a part of this application and in which similar reierence characters indicate similar parts:

Fig. 1 shows a vertical sectional view oi the tank with the piston in section and also showing in elevation the adjustable corner wear plates.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the tank showing the plunger valves and control mechanism for regulating the opening of the same.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view oi the tank showing the piston or plunger with valve control means as well as the control means for regulating the opening of the partition valves.

Fig. 4 is a side elevation or" the wear plate construction which is located between the sides of the plunger and the side walls of the tank and Fig. lla is a similar View showing the wear plate and the manner of attaching the same to the side vwalls of the tank and Fig. 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Fig. 4a.

Fig. 6 is a View in elevation of the wear plate construction which is located between the ends oi the plunger and the end walls of the tank and Fig. 7 is a section on line 7 7 of Fig. 6.

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the bolt for attaching the wear plate support to the end wall of the tank and Fig. 9 is a section on line 9 9 of Fig. 8.

Fig. l0 is in view oi one of the corner wear plates and Fig. l1 is the sectional View of the same on the line 11e-l1 of Fig. 10.

Fig. l2 is a plan view at right angles to the View shown in l0 and shows the adjustable supporting screw for the corner wear plate.

The general features oi construction or this machine are similar to those disclosed in Patent 954,986 and comprise a rectangular tank in the upper portion oi which is located a reciprocatory plunger provided with a plurality of valves opening upwardly for the purpose of pumping water from the lower portion of the tank upwardly to agitato the coal which passes over the screen located above the plunger. In the lower portion of the tank there is an inclined partition provided with upwardly opening hinged valves which permit the passage of water from below the partition into the compartment between the partition and the plunger and prevent reverse flow of the water. Referring to Figs. l, 2 and 3 of the drawings the tank is indicated generally at l, the piston at 2 and the inclined partition at 3. As stated before the piston is reciprocated in the tank by a mechanism, not herein specifically disclosed, and is provided with a horizontal bottom portion in which are located a plurality of upwardly opening valves indicated at 4. These valves are arranged to reciprocate on stems 5 and are each limited in its upward movement by adjustable cams 6 which abut against the upper portion oi each valve and limit the opening movement thereof. As shown there are six valves in the piston although any desired number of valves may be employed. The control mechanism ior these valves as indicated in the drawings comprises a plurality of transverse rods i on which the cams 6 are mounted and the rods *7 are connected by means of a rod 8 through crank arms so that the adjustment of all oi the valves may be controlled in unison. Considering Fig. 3 it will be noted that the rod 8 is pivoted at l0 to another rod l1 which extends outwardly through the end wall of the tank and is moved into and held in any adjusted position by means of the wheel l2. From the construction just reierrcd to it is apparent that by turning the wheel l2 the cams 6 may be brought closer to or moved away :from the upper ends o the reciprocating valves and there be adjusted in any desired position to regulate the amount'oi opening of all of the valves in the piston. The adjusting means for the valves is provided with a pointer 13 which cooperates with a suitable scale indicated at le ici' the purpose of facilitating the adjustment or" the valves.

The valves in the partition 3 are of the pivoted type and the extent of opening of these valves is controlled by cams 15 which are mounted on a transverse shaft 16. The shaft 16 may be rotated by means of a lever mechanism shown at 17 on the outside oi the tank which may be moved to any adjusted position and suitably latched in any desired adjusted position. From this construction it will be apparent that the valves in the partition may be adjusted as regard their opening movement by the mechanism just described. In the present drawings only three valves 18 are shown in the partition, a larger number however is usually employed and may be controlled by another rod similar to 16 and connected thereto by suitable lever mechanism so that all of the valves in the partition may be controlled by a single adjusted means such as 17.

In previous devices of this character control of the water passing through the piston was hard to regulate in view of thc amount of wear between the piston bottom and the side and the end walls of the tank. It was old to provide wear plates between the piston and the tank but it was very diiiicult to change these plates to compensate for wear and to overcome this diiculty the present invention discloses simple and eective means for overcoming this objection. At the sides of the piston and between it and the side walls of the tank adjustable wear plates have been provided. 'I'hese wear plates are shown in section in Fig. 1 and more in detail in Figs. 4, 4tL and 5. Referring to the latter Figures the wear plate is shown at 20 and is of metal and of U shape or channel construction. This plate is supported on a bar 21 which is attached to the side wall of the tank by the bolts 22. The wear plate is adjusted by means of set screws 23 which are locked in adjusted position by nuts 24. These set screws are protected by means of metal ianged cups 25 which pass through the other side wall of the tank and are held against the wall by the bars 21 and have on their outer ends the threaded caps 26. With this construction it is apparent that the side wear plates may be readily adjusted merely by taking off the caps 26 and loosening the locking nuts 24 then turning the set screws until the desired adjustment is made.

The means for providing adjustment between the end walls of the piston and the tank are shown in section in Fig. 3 and in detail in Figures 6, 7, 8 and 9. Considering Figures 6 and 7 the wear plate is shown at 27 and is U shaped or channel shaped in cross section and usually made of machined iron so as to provide a fairly close sliding fit with the end plates on the base of the plunger. This Wear plate is attached to the end walls of the tank by plates 28 which are shown as being of triangular section in Figures 3 and 7. These plates 28 however are of U shaped construction throughout their lengths except at the adjusting points as indicated in Fig. 7. See for instance the section as shown in Fig. 9. To adjust the wear plates 27, wedge elements 29 are located between plates 27 and 28 and when moved upwardly between the vertical face of the plate 27 and the inclined face of the plate 28 these wedge pieces 29 force the adjusting plate 27 away from the plate 28 in the direction of the adjacent wear plate on the end wall of the piston and limit the leakage between the same. The wedges 29 are adjusted by means of set screws 30 provided with locking nuts 31 and the set screws are protected by covers 25, 26, similar to those shown in Figure 5 which are attached to the bottom face of the wear plate 27.

In Fig. 9 the supporting plate 28 is shown provided with a bolt 32 for attaching the same to the end wall of the tank. This plate 28 is of the section shown in Fig. 9 throughout its length except for the portions where the adjusting wedges 29 are located.

The piston as before mentioned is provided with a bottom in which the reciprocating valves are y located and is also provided with side walls 33 which serve to reciprocate the bottom of the plunger when suitably connected to the operating mechanism. These side walls 33 also cooperate with the tank walls to steady the movement of the piston in pumping operation. For this purpose it is necessary that suitable guide plates be located in the corners of the tank to guide the piston in its movement. These guide plates are subject to Wear as are the other parts of such mechanisms and this invention is concerned with the provision of readily adjustable means for compensating for the wear between these guides and the walls 33 of the piston. For this purpose the construction shown in detail in Figs. 10, 11 and l2 has been provided. Referring to Fig. 10 the corner wear plate is shown at 34 and is L shaped in section as shown in Fig. 1l in order to it against the side walls 33 as well as against the edge of this wall for guiding the same in its vertical movement. These corner guides limit the side movement of the piston and therefore cooperate with the wear plates on the sides and ends or" the piston in reducing the total amount of wear on all of these parts. The guide plates 34 are held in adjusted position by means of plates 35 which are attached to the side walls of the tank by suitable bolts or by other means. 'Ihe plates 34 are adjusted with respect to the walls 33 of the plunger by means of set screws 36 and the guide plates 34 are supported vertically and adjusted in the desired position by means of set screws 37 shown in Fig. l2 which pass through an onset portion of the upper end of the supporting plate 35. The set screws 36 are protected by metal enclosures indicated at 38 in Fig. 1 which are similar to those covering the set screws 23.

From the above description it will be apparent that means has been provided for readily adjusting the wear plates between the sides and ends of the piston bottom and the corresponding walls of the tank. By such adjustment the amount of leakage past the piston may be reduced to a minimum consistant with easy operation of the pis ton between the two wear plates. By reason of this adjustment the regulation of the amount of water passing through the piston valves may be accurately controlled by the adjusting device under control of the wheel 12. It will be apparent also that the adjustment of the valves in the partition separating the bottom of the tank from the compartment immediately under the piston is highly desirable for the purpose of controlling the amount of water accurately which is pumped through the piston. It is highly desirable to be able to control the amount of water pumped and the speed of the ow in connection with washing different grades of coal which may require a different treatment from others.

In actual practice it has been found that it is necessary to pump an exact amount of water through the coal for the best results and. if leakage is permitted around the piston or if there is no control of the valves in the partition the best results cannot be obtained. Furthermore due to constant operation there is considerable wear between the piston and the walls of the tank and it is highly desirable to have the wear plates readily adjustable so as to control the iiow of water which has been found to be essential. By being able to adjust the wear plates to limit the leakage and also to adjust the opening of the valves the control of the flow of water can be very accurately exercised and the best results obtained.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a coal washing machine, in combination, a tank having an inclined partition therein, valves in said partition, a reciprocatory plunger in said tank having valves therein, and adjustable friction plates between the lines oi contact of said plunger and said tank, means to regulate said valves from the outside of said tank and means to regulate the adjustment o said friction plates whereby to control the flow of water pumped by said piston.

2. In a coal washing machine, in combination, a rectangular tank having an inclined bottom with valve regulated openings therein, a piston mounted therein and having upwardly extending plane side walls for guiding the same, adjustable wear plates attached to the tank walls for engagement with the guiding Walls of the piston, wear plates attached to the side and end walls of said piston and cooperating adjustable wear plates adjustably mounted on the side and end walls of said tank, reciprocating valves mounted in said piston, limiting means for controlling the amount of opening of said valves and adjusting means mounted on said tank for controlling the adjustment or" said valve limiting means.

3. In a coal washing machine, in combination, a tank, a piston mounted in said tank, valves in said piston, a partition in the lower portion or" said tank, valves in said partition and means operable from the outside of said tank for limiting the opening movement of said valves, said means controlling the opening of said valves through a plurality of shafts carrying cams for limiting the movement of said valves.

4. In a coal washing machine, in combination, a tank, a piston mounted in said tank having an inclined bottom with valve regulated openings therein, adjustable wear plates between said piston and the walls of said tank, a plurality of valves mounted in said piston, mechanism for limiting the opening movement of said valves and screw threaded means located on a wall of said tank to adjust said mechanism whereby the opening movement of said valves may be adjusted.

5. In a coal washing machine, in combination, a rectangular tank having an inclined bottom with valve regulated openings therein, a piston located in said tank, said piston having valves located in the bottom thereof and having plane side walls adjacent to the side walls ofsaid tank. a plurality of adjustable corner guide plates 1o-u cated between the side walls of said piston and the side walls of said tank for guiding the piston, adjustable wear plates located between the end walls of said piston and said tank comprising a plate attached to the end wall of said tank having an inclined inner face and a U-shaped channel plate carried thereby for cooperation with said piston and means for adjusting said U-shaped plate comprising a plurality of wedges located between said plate and the plate attached to the tank wall.

6. In a coal washing machine, in combination, a rectangular tank having an inclined bottom with valve regulated openings therein, a piston located in said tank, said piston having valves l0- cated in the bottom thereof and having plane side walls adjacent to the side walls of said tank, a plurality of adjustable corner guide plates located between the side walls of said piston and the side walls of said tank for guiding the piston, adjustable wear plates located between the side walls of the tank and piston, comprising a plate attached to the side wall of the tank supporting the U- shaped plate for engagement with the side wall of the piston and set screws extending through the plate attached to the tank wall for adjusting the wear plate.

7. In a coal washing machine, in combination, a rectangular tank having an inclined bottom with valve regulated openings therein, a reciprocatory piston mounted therein, valves in the bottom of said piston, said piston being provided with solid vertical side walls for attachment to operating mechanism and serving as guides for said piston, adjustable corner wear plates located bea tween the edges of the side walls of said piston and the walls of said tank, said wear plates being L-shaped in cross section and supported by plates attached to the walls of said tank and adjustable through the walls of said tank.

JAMES A. MONTGOMERY. 

